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Harvest Moon: The Partial Eclipse Of A Supermoon

At a Glance

September's full harvest moon is also a partial lunar eclipse.
Plus, it's a supermoon.
A partial eclipse is visible across North America.

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The September full moon is the Harvest Moon, a supermoon and a partial eclipse, all rolled into what could be one brilliant scene visible in the sky Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.

Partial lunar eclipse, when and where:

A partial lunar eclipse happens when part of the moon enters Earth's shadow - in this case, about 8% of the moon.

The 2024 partial lunar eclipse visible across North America Tuesday night was projected to start at 8:41 p.m. EDT, according to NASA. The moon was expected to slightly dim around 8:13 p.m. EDT with the eclipse peak around 10:44 p.m. EDT.

Your view might depend on the weather:

"There are some regions in which you're virtually guaranteed to have a great view. That includes virtually the entire Mississippi Valley from the western Great Lakes to the Mid-South, as well as most of the Desert Southwest from southeast California to Arizona," weather.com senior meteorologist Jonathan Erdman said Tuesday afternoon.

"However, clouds and rain are expected from Chesapeake Bay to the central and southern Appalachians, much of the Plains from western Texas to Montana and the Dakotas, as well as the northern Rockies and much of the Northwest."

Get the full forecast here.

What makes it a supermoon:

A supermoon looks bigger and brighter than a regular full moon because it happens when the moon is at its closest point to Earth. This is the second of four consecutive supermoons this year. You can see photos here of August's supermoon.

What else to know about the Harvest Moon:

September's full moon gets its name because this time of year was traditionally when crops were harvested. It’s also called the Corn Moon, Fruit Moon or Barley Moon, and is celebrated by cultures around the world.

In China, for example, it's celebrated with the Mooncake Festival and in Korea it's Chuseok, a time when people return to their hometowns and pay respect to the spirits of their elders.

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Weather.com reporter Jan Childs covers breaking news and features related to weather, space, climate change, the environment and everything in between.